


Perfect

by cherrybombtriestowrite



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, it's only in the third chapter, listen im just tryin somethin out, some angst yes, some side jinseob but im not scamming anyone by tagging it, teacher daniel yes, uncle seongwoo n his nephew snaggletooth woojin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybombtriestowrite/pseuds/cherrybombtriestowrite
Summary: When Seongwoo is left to care for his nephew for a year, he never expected to meet the love of his life in the form of a teacher.aka the teacher!daniel & uncle!seongwoo au lmao





	1. Drummers & Dancers

**Author's Note:**

> this has been in my draft for some time so uh i'll have to see where this will go lmao

Holding onto the folder with ‘ _Park Woojin_ ’ written on it, Seongwoo’s clammy hands are dangerously wetting the paper texture of it. He wipes his hands on his pants and picks the folder back up, taking a deep breath. As he exhales, he opens the door and exits his car. Resting against the car, waiting for him to come out for the past 10 minutes, is none other than Park Woojin himself. Seongwoo had warned him that dyeing his hair red is risky, but the boy reminds him that it’s a performing arts high school. Seongwoo knew that - he just hated how striking the color is.

Truth is, he doesn’t know how to take care of a kid. Not even a kid - Woojin is 16 for god’s sake. He knows how liberal his sister is, seeing how she raised her son to aspire to be an idol. In fact, she’s so liberal that she has taken the liberty to go traveling for a whole year and leave her child in the care of her younger brother who’s just getting used to his new job. _Woojin is an easy kid, Seongwoo-ya_ , she assured him, _I’ll give you enough money to feed 10 kids_. That’s the only reason Seongwoo agreed - the money. He needs the money to fund his band’s debut EP, in which he plays the role of the drummer. Not that his sister cares - her husband finally convinced her to take a break from work to travel the world together before they’re too old - she’s too happy to care about the details.

“Can we go in before I miss the whole semester?” Woojin jokes, snapping Seongwoo back to reality. He eyes how Seongwoo is uncomfortably adjusting his tie and adds, “And lose the tie. It looks like a noose.”

“Should I?” Seongwoo asks, in which the red-haired boy replies with a nod. He takes his tie off and throws it in his car while unbuttoning the top button, asking, “How about now?”

“Now we both look cool enough to enter the school.” Woojin smiles.

Woojin had been asking his parents to transfer him to this school, saying how badly he needs to if he wants to make it as an idol. It’s the school where most debuted idols went to and Woojin sees it as an important stepping stone he needs to realize his dreams. He said he needs to be around people with the same interest in order to be _in his element_. Seongwoo was there during this conversation which is usually during their family dinner, but he usually tunes out when Woojin starts talking about his dancing.

And now, with his reluctant uncle by his side, Park Woojin is ready to conquer the world.

Seongwoo, on the other hand, has just stopped sweating. They both walk in the school, immediately in awe of the hallway. Gracing the walls are cabinets of trophies, followed by photos of their alumni which ranges from actors in their favorite drama to the highest paid idols. Seongwoo wishes he had liberal parents who would’ve let him pursue his music interest, but sighs at the past that stays unchanged.

“We’re here.” Woojin announces. They’re both standing at the doorway of a large room. Seongwoo reads the sign that says it’s the teacher’s room, which houses the principal’s room towards the end of the room. Slightly panicking, Seongwoo doesn’t know who he should be meeting right now. _Is it the principal? Or just a teacher? Why didn't I pay attention to what my sister said yesterday?_

They both walk in, looking around to see most teachers are not present. The ones that are, are working. Seongwoo wants to clear his throat and ask who’s in charge, but he’s still recovering from all the nervous sweating he had just done. Just then, someone walks in from behind them and heads inside. It’s a man about Seongwoo’s height, but with shoulders twice as wide and a head full of blonde hair with a hint of pink. By the man’s side is a tall boy and a face that’s as pale as a sheet of paper. When the man finally turns, Seongwoo decides that it’s one of the best faces he’s seen in a long time. He’d give it a 9.5/10. The man and the boy are stopped by one of the teachers, asking why they’re here.

The man gives a sorry smile and puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Seonho, our one man mukbang extraordinaire, managed to get food poisoning.”

Seonho, the boy, shrugs. “I think it’s the five servings of chicken I ate for dinner yesterday.”

The teacher who stopped them laughs and shakes his head. “Alright then, get him out of here.”

As the man and Seonho sits at a desk, Seongwoo figures the good looking dude is probably a teacher and the sick boy is his student. Before Seongwoo could admire his face any longer, the handsome teacher spots Seongwoo and Woojin who are standing near the doorway. It’s quite hard to miss the kid with a head full of red hair and a tall, handsome dark-haired man awkwardly standing together.

“Can I help you?” The blonde haired teacher asks. 

Startled, Seongwoo immediately walks towards him with Woojin in tow. He bows and smiles, more nervous than polite. “I’m here to register a kid- I mean this kid- I mean…Park Woojin.”

Woojin stays behind him, chuckling. He has seen his uncle approach strangers better than this. In fact, it’s quite weird to see his usually confident uncle act this nervous.

The teacher smiles brightly at him and exclaims, “Ah, just your luck! Park Woojin-sshi has been assigned to be in my class. I’m a teacher in the practical dance department and also your son’s homeroom teacher. I’m Kang Daniel.”

Seongwoo stares at the hand extended towards him - Daniel’s right hand is in a cast, which gives him about a million questions. His mind suddenly doesn’t know what a handshake is, rendered useless because someone just referred to Woojin as his ‘son’. Quickly shaking Daniel’s hand and coming back to his senses, Seongwoo smiles and corrects him, “I’m not his father, sorry. I’m his uncle and legal guardian for a year while his parents are away. My name is Ong Seongwoo and…I’m not even old enough to be his dad.”

Standing up, Daniel bows and continues to hold his hand with both hands as he apologizes, “I am so sorry, Seongwoo-sshi. I just assumed so because - I don’t know, I just assume things.”

Just for a moment, Seongwoo finds himself blinded by how bright Daniel is up close. From his hair to his smile, Daniel is a bright ball of happiness. Even Woojin is smiling widely at this interaction. Daniel then adds, “Did you say your surname is Ong?”

“Yeah, I know it’s odd.” Seongwoo laughs, finally letting go of the handshake with Daniel’s wounded hand and scratches the back of his neck. “But yes, it’s Ong. Ong Seongwoo, the one and only.”

“Well, I’m the one and only Kang Daniel as well.” Daniel replies, winking at him. He sits back down and grabs a pen as he looks at Woojin. “So you’re Park Woojin, aspiring dancer?”

“Is that what my mum wrote?” Woojin groans, wondering how dramatic his mum must’ve been when applying to this school for him. “Yeah, I guess.”

Daniel laughs and fills in a form. His writing is odd, probably because of the cast he’s wearing. Seonho, the sick boy, is sitting at the table next to Daniel’s, falling asleep. Daniel notices his company looking at the boy and chuckles. “He’s a junior of yours, Woojin-ah. Really funny and clingy guy.”

A teacher enters the room and sits nearby, carefully watching the crowd around Daniel’s table. She is probably gawking at how handsome Seongwoo is and also how red Woojin’s hair is, with a sick Seonho to top it all off. She chooses to ask her colleague, “Daniel-ah, what happened to your hand?”

Turning and smiling at her, Daniel answers, “You’d know if you came to the competition yesterday, noona.”

“I’m a 31 year-old lady with 3 kids, Daniel-ah. I have better things to do than watch you break an arm.” 

Daniel scoffed mockingly and says, “Not the whole arm, just a few fingers. It was worth it because I won.”

“Congrats! Did you do another ridiculously impossible b-boy trick?”

“Something like that.”

Daniel turns back to face Seongwoo, smiling. Seongwoo couldn’t hold his curiosity back and asks, “You…dance?”

Laughing, Daniel replies, “Well, a dance teacher has to be able to dance, you see.”

“Of course.” Seongwoo quickly replies, laughing at his own stupidity. He hesitantly adds, “I used to, too.”

“Oh, is that so? Joined any competitions?”

“A few back in the day. I mostly did popping but it was never serious. I work a desk job now.”

Daniel’s face falls for a while, looking like he’s the one who is disappointed by Seongwoo’s life choices. Woojin notices this and quickly butts in, “But Seongwoo hyung is in a band now. He drums.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Daniel says, tapping his pen against his lip. Seongwoo finds it criminally offensive, especially with lips that pink. His eyes are glued on Daniel’s lips when the teacher softly says, “I like drummers.”

And just like that, Seongwoo almost chokes on air. He coughs and mutters an apology, trying to hide the blush creeping on his face. Woojin smiles at the sight of his uncle’s face matching the color of his hair, enjoying his suffering. Deciding to make the situation even better, the red-haired boy decides to add, “That’s good, because Seongwoo hyung likes dancers-”

“Oh my god! Look at the time. I’m late for my boring desk job.” Seongwoo yelps, looking like the bumbling idiot Woojin remembers him well as. Leaving the folder on Daniel’s table and patting Woojin’s back a little too hard, Seongwoo bids adieu faster than one can count to three and speed walks out of the room. 

Seongwoo puts a reminder on his phone to hide Woojin’s X-Box when he gets home. 

 

xxxxx

 

Eating the sandwich he packed earlier, Seongwoo chews slowly as he stares at the computer screen, clicking away. He finally finds something close to what he’s searching; a YouTube video titled ‘Busan Breakdance Battle - Kang Daniel. With his earphones plugged in, he watches the interesting battle between the man he met earlier and a young boy. They’re both good, but Daniel makes it hard with the obvious gap in skills and age between them.

He browses through similar videos, even finding ones with the name 'Kang Euigeon’ which features Daniel. Seongwoo wonders if he goes by his English name or if he changed his name, since Euigeon is quite a tongue twister. He opens the tab where he has the website of Woojin’s school opened. A picture of Daniel with darker hair is in the teacher’s section of the site, the same smile gracing his face.

“Seongwoo-ya, you’re eating lunch here today?”

Panicking for no valid reason, Seongwoo forgets that he’s on his desktop and not his laptop, almost pulling the monitor screen down. He turns to see that it’s Minhyun, his colleague and also his college friend who helped him get the job. Minhyun isn’t the type to butt around people’s business, but even he is curious as to why he’s browsing through the website of an arts high school. Seongwoo clears his throat and says, “I can explain.”

“Ah, isn’t this the school you said your nephew is going to?” Minhyun asks, recognizing the famous school. He smiles at the photo of Daniel displayed and says, “Is this his teacher? He’s cute.”

“Something like that.” Seongwoo mutters, smiling to himself. Minhyun looks at his friend’s expression and recognizes the ever so familiar sight of Seongwoo falling for someone.

“Didn’t you know? Our Jaehwanie applied to be a teacher there too.” Minhyun tells him, grabbing the mouse to browse the music department. “He told me about it last month. I forgot to ask him about it when we met last week.”

There, smiling awkwardly among the older teachers in the department page, is their friend Kim Jaehwan. An idea immediately pops in Seongwoo’s head, an obvious one where he now has three reasons to visit the school. He mutters, “It felt like just yesterday when we were drunk and cheering for him as he sang Adele back in college.”

“ _You_  were drunk, I was babysitting the  _both_  of you by the time the competition ended because Jaehwan got drunk as well.” Minhyun corrects him. “The three of us should meet again soon.”

Nodding, the memory of Daniel’s eye smile flashes past as Seongwoo says, “Yeah, definitely.”

xxxxx

It’s been a week. Woojin registered on Monday and it’s already Friday; 5 days of him coming home and ranting to his uncle about how great his new school is. Woojin isn’t a chatterbox but he can talk on and on when he’s excited. Seongwoo tunes out during most of it, his mind loudly counting the days since he last saw Daniel. It’s only when Woojin mentions his teacher that Seongwoo pays attention, enjoying the stories of how the blonde dance teacher laughs at almost everything.  _Daniel-ssaem is an amazing dancer,_  Woojin would say,  _he does b-boy tricks like they’re nothin_ g. Woojin would even tell him what he wore to school, speaking of his surprisingly wide collection of plaid shirts.

It’s Friday night and Seongwoo contemplates on whether he should bring Woojin along to his band practice, but the boy assures him that he’ll be okay sitting home alone. Seongwoo then leaves to meet with his band at a jamming studio and arrives to find that everyone is there - their vocalist Dongho, bassist Minki, and guitarist Sewoon. It’s an odd group, considering they met in college and still stayed together despite having to go down different career paths.

An hour in, Minki announces a break after having rehearsed the same 2 songs over and over again. Dongho flings an empty can of Coke at Seongwoo, laughing at how the guy flinches. Dongho asks, “What’s gotten into you today? You messed up a lot.”

“Did I?” Seongwoo asks.

“Yeah, you missed the beat several times during Never. Don’t even get me started on Hands On Me.” Dongho remarks, sitting next to Seongwoo’s drum set. “Is it work? Everything okay? Minhyun said you're doing great.”

“No, work’s fine.” Seongwoo sighs, rubbing his forehead. “I’m taking care of Woojin now. I registered him into his new school the other day and…”

“…and?”

“Well, I met someone there.” Seongwoo finds himself smiling at the memory of Daniel, the only one he’s been holding onto since Monday. “He’s Woojin’s teacher and - an absolute dreamboat.”

“How boring.” Minki groans, putting his bass aside. “I thought it was some huge problem.”

“It is a huge problem!” Seongwoo protests. “The last time I met him was on Monday and I’ve been wrecking my brain on how to meet him again.”

“Pick Woojin up after school?” Sewoon suggests.

“He wants to take the bus home.” Seongwoo sighs, already going through that option. “Besides, it’s not like Daniel would be walking him out the school like a pre-schooler.”

“His name is Daniel?” Dongho asks. “Is he a foreigner?”

“I don’t know- I know nothing about him! I just know that he’s a dancer and a teacher.” Seongwoo groans and leans against the wall behind him. “And that he’s got shoulders the size of the Pacific Ocean.”

“Sounds appealing, bud.” Minki mutters and digs into his pocket to take a few dollar bills out, counting them before putting it on one of Seongwoo’s drums. “Resolve your conflict on the way to the convenience store.”

Rolling his eyes, Seongwoo stands up after understanding that he is tonight’s reluctant volunteer to get beer for them. They usually play better after a few bottles, albeit sometimes they end up drinking too much they’d be playing too loud and get kicked out. He grabs the money and steps out the studio, pulling on his hoodie as the night wind blows past him.

The nearby convenience store’s cashier nods when he sees Seongwoo stepping in, already recognizing him. Seongwoo slows down by the ramen lane, grabbing some before realizing he doesn’t have the time to be eating in the middle of a session. He grabs a bag of chips instead and walks towards the fridge. He pouts as he stares at the multitude of alcohol choices. The store bell rings as another customer steps in - probably a student grabbing some munchies in the middle of the night. The person stands next to Seongwoo, facing the same fridge. It’s definitely not odd for people to be buying beer at this time of the night, but Seongwoo feels like a bother because he needs to decide on what brand to--

_Oh god no._

Turning to his left, Seongwoo’s eyes widens at the sight of a familiar blonde-haired man.  _Kang Daniel._  Little sirens blares in Seongwoo’s brains, alerting him of a critical situation. Daniel turns as well and his tired face brightens up when he sees Seongwoo’s shocked face looking back at him.

“Seongwoo, right? Ong Seongwoo?” Daniel greets, turning to fully face Seongwoo. “Park Woojin’s uncle?”

Fixing his hair and a bright smile automatically gracing his face, Seongwoo greets back, “Glad you remember me, Kang Daniel.”

“How could I not?” Daniel answers with a smirk, sending mixed signals to Seongwoo.  _What does he mean? Is it because I acted like such an idiot or is it because I’m insanely handsome?_

“Yeah, well...Woojin has been talking about you a lot. He seems to really like you.”

“Really? He’s a quiet kid but his skills are  _loud_.” Daniel speaks fondly of Woojin. “He tells me about you, too.”

“What? Why? What- why would he?” Seongwoo stumbles on his own words, trying to stop himself from sounding so perplexed.  _What is that squirt telling his handsome teacher about his handsome uncle?_

Daniel lets out a small laughter and opens the fridge, grabbing two cans of beer. He suggests, “Do you want to talk outside instead of, you know, in front of this fridge?”

There are a million reasons Seongwoo should say no - his band is waiting for him and the beers - yet his heart is holding on the single reason of being able to actually talk to Kang Daniel. Seongwoo nods and takes the beer cans from him, rushing to the cashier so he can be the one to pay for it. Daniel protests for a bit, but gives up when Seongwoo forces him to wait for him outside. They sit at a table outside, cracking their drinks open and drinking together.

“So, about me,” Seongwoo starts, “what did that kid say about me?”

“He talks quite a lot about you, to be honest. He said you guys have been close since forever-”

“-because we’ve got quite a small age gap, yeah.” Seongwoo smiles, remembering how he was only 9 when Woojin was born. He felt more like a big brother rather than an uncle.

“Yeah, yeah. He said it was really sad how your parents - his grandparents - wouldn’t let you pursue your dreams and you had to stop dancing.” Daniel mutters, drinking his beer. A smile appears on his face again as he adds, “But I’m glad to hear you have a band and everything now!”

Wondering what his band members has prepared for him when he gets back, Seongwoo gives Daniel an unassuming smile. “Yeah, my band. They’re my sole reason for surviving.”

“I feel that way about dancing. That’s why I continued with teaching - I love to see kids pursuing the same interest I pursued.” Daniel muses, staring ahead. Seongwoo looks down and sighs. He hates being reminded of his failed pursuit towards his dreams, but hearing Daniel talk about his success kind of makes him feel better. Seongwoo is happy with his band now, pursuing this new dream without inhibitions. Well, except Daniel who’s causing him to abandon his members who are waiting in the studio. 

“We’re working on our debut EP now.” Seongwoo informs him, his face lighting up at the news. “I’ll give you a copy when it’s done.”

“Screw that, I’ll buy a copy myself. Maybe two.” Daniel smiles. He looks down at his watch and sighs. “I’ve got to go back now. I was doing my laundry and there’s this old lady in my building who hates it when I leave my clothes in the drier for too long.”

“I have to go, too. My band’s going to resume practice soon.” Seongwoo says, standing up with him.

“Oh no, did I keep you here too long?”

“What? No.” Seongwoo scoffs, lying when he knows for a fact that Dongho is already screaming his name in the studio. Knowing he’s already late, Seongwoo goes ahead and asks, “Do you want me to walk you home?”

Laughing and shaking his head, Daniel says, “It’s alright, I live really near.”

“It’s quite a shady neighborhood.”

“The rent is cheap.”

Seongwoo laughs at his reasonable logic and adds, “Okay, at least text me when you’re home.”

And just like that, Seongwoo thanks heaven for giving him back his gift of smooth flirting. He felt like it was revoked during his first meeting with Daniel and tonight it is finally returned to him. Daniel tilts his head to the side with a cute baffled expression, sending sharp pricks towards Seongwoo’s fragile heart. The blonde takes his phone out and says, “Your number is in Woojin’s file, but I never saved it.”

Taking his phone, Seongwoo types his number in and saves it under his name. Their hands graze each other when Seongwoo hands the phone back, Daniel’s hands feeling smoother than his. Seongwoo’s had nights where he drummed his stress away to the point where his hands bled - so smooth hands are out of the question. Speaking of which, Seongwoo points at Daniel’s arm and remarks, “Your cast is off.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t that serious. I’ve had worse.” Daniel answers, giggling. He looks at the number saved and mutters, “Arras-ong. I'll get going.”

The joke on Seongwoo's unique name has been overplayed, but somehow Daniel makes it sound like a whole new thing that Seongwoo has never heard of. The dark-haired man laughs at it. He awkwardly pats Daniel’s arm and says, “Get home safely.”

“It’s seriously just a stone’s throw away.”

“I get worried easy, it’s in my nature.” Seongwoo shrugs, absolutely forgetting the fact that he left Woojin home alone without checking on him for the past hour. 

The two finally part ways, the both of them glancing back a few million times until they’re too far apart to see each other. When Seongwoo arrives at the studio, he receives a text from an unknown number.

_I’m home safely~_

_But the old lady is nagging me about my clothes .__._

_Thank you for the beer! Have a great rest of the night c: Hope to see you soon!_

Seongwoo forgets all about the beer, earning a collective scolding from his members. He sits in his chair, tuning the shouting out as his mind replays Daniel’s adorable eye smile and laughter. A smile creeps on his face even as Dongho throws the bag of chip at him.


	2. Almost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok I KNOW I ONLY INTENDED ON TWO CHAPTERS but i also never saw the story going this ways so. sorry for the wait but you'll have to wait a little bit more for the ending dgdjdksks SORRY

Ong Seongwoo (Park Woojin’s uncle): hey, can you check if woojinie is wearing grey striped socks

Kang Daniel (Woojinie’s teacher): why……ok hold on

Kang Daniel (Woojinie’s teacher): yeah he is

Ong Seongwoo (Park Woojin’s uncle): ok thank you I finally found the reason why my sock supply is depleting

 

  
Kang Daniel: woojin isn’t even wearing socks today what did you do

Ong Seongwoo: he’s on protest because I wouldn’t let him wear mine

Kang Daniel: he wouldn’t even let me buy him socks

Ong Seongwoo: it doesn’t work that way he wants to wear mine

 

  
Seongwoo: are you hungry

Daniel: how did you read my mind

Daniel: I’ve been doing work I forgot to eat dinner

Seongwoo: I can always tell ;)

Seongwoo: actually I cooked too much samgyetang and thought there might be a hungry teacher out there who’d appreciate it

Daniel: that’s nice but I’m too lazy to leave my house

Seongwoo: no worries I’ll come over

 

  
Ong: [▶️————–• 3:00]

Ong: what do you think of this

Niel: wasn’t I suppose to wait for the EP to come out

Ong: I got excited and wanted to know if it’s good

Niel: I really like it. did you write it?

Ong: ;)))))))

 

  
Niel: ong ah

Niel: ongggggggggggggggggdhdjdjsjsjs

Niel: don’t ignore me ㅠㅠ I’m gonna cry

Ong: it’s 2 am daniel ah what’s wrong

Ong: are you okay?

Niel: I’m wasted right now I

Niel: idon't think i can dribe

Ong: send me your location I’ll come get you

Niel: i'm at the bar u told me abot last week

Niel: ur gonna come get me????? I’m gonna cry right now

Niel: ur too nice I don’t deserve you

Niel: sjklsslsskshdhdkddu

 

How Seongwoo ended up driving at 2 in the morning with a drunk teacher next to him is still lost on him. All he knows right now is his heart is still beating after storming into the club in his sweatpants and frantically searching for Daniel. The teacher was at the bar and trying to ignore a man trying to talk him up. When he saw Seongwoo approaching he was smiling from ear to ear and then immediately plastered himself on Seongwoo. Now they’re both in the car and Daniel is half asleep half texting.

“What are y- who are you texting?” Seongwoo asks, recognizing that drunken habit Minki has as well.

“Drunk texting, what else?” Daniel giggles.

Seongwoo snatches his phone away, stopping any further blunders to happen. Before locking his phone, Seongwoo sees that Daniel was about to text him despite being in the same car. The unsent message in the text bar just says ‘ _I want some ice cream_ ’. Seongwoo chuckles at this and puts the phone away.

In the span of a couple of months, they have been texting each other every day and got closer. Sometimes they’d text the whole day, sometimes one of them would be too busy but still makes the effort to shoot a good night text. Seongwoo found out that Daniel is a year younger, despite the blonde refusing to call him hyung. He also found out how prone to injuries Daniel is, which worries him. Woojin doesn’t know they’re texting each other since they agreed to not worry the red-haired boy (Seongwoo actually just wants to make sure Woojin doesn’t embarrass him anymore).

Seongwoo drags Daniel back to his apartment, a place he’s been to a few times. Usually, Seongwoo would only come to give him ‘extra’ food (he actually cooks more than needed just so he can feed Daniel who he’s come to know is a really bad cook and also as a reason to see Daniel in shorts and glasses) but this time he gets to actually step inside. The apartment room is clean and cozy, albeit small because he’s living alone. Seongwoo used to live alone in a small apartment room too, but he’s been living in his sister’s home for the past month that he forgot how single living felt like.

Daniel lies on the floor as soon as they arrive, but Seongwoo pulls him up and tells him to clean up first. Daniel whines and says he’s tired, pouting with his eyes barely open. Seongwoo’s heart is weak when Daniel does anything remotely cute, which is all the time. Seongwoo takes his hand and pulls him to the toilet, telling him to at least wash his face and brush his teeth. Daniel does as told, brushing his teeth awfully slowly - so Seongwoo takes the liberty to help him wash his face. Daniel grins with the toothbrush in his mouth as Seongwoo rubs circles on his face with the cleanser. Seongwoo hopes Daniel is too drunk to notice how red his face is right now. 

After Daniel washes his face and rinses his mouth, Seongwoo pulls him to his room and tells him to change. Without thinking much, Daniel takes his shirt and pants off in front of Seongwoo, making the older man flustered and wondering if he should leave. He doesn’t. Instead, Seongwoo sits on his bed like a statue as he stares at how amazing Daniel’s body is. The dancer’s shoulders are even more impressive with nothing covering them and his abs are so defined it looks unreal. When Daniel is finally dressed in his pajamas, he sits next to Seongwoo and yawns.

“I can’t believe you got me up at 2 a.m. to save your ass.” Seongwoo smiles, ruffling Daniel’s hair adoringly.

Daniel turns to him and smiles gratefully. The blonde then dips quickly and pecks Seongwoo’s lips, too fast to be considered a real kiss but soft enough to make Seongwoo almost fall off the bed. Daniel mutters, “Thank you, good night.”

With that, Daniel crawls to his pillow and sleeps. Seongwoo sits there, still stunned. He’s sure Daniel would be too drunk to remember he gave him a good night kiss, so Seongwoo is left to wonder if it means anything. Before he could think any further, he decides to bolt and return to his own house. He hopes Woojin didn’t realize he left.

 

xxxxx

 

“He did what?!”

Seongwoo quickly leans forward to close Minki’s mouth with his hands, concerned by how loud the bassist is being in this swanky restaurant they worked hard to get a spot in. 

Minhyun arranged a small reunion with his college friends, despite meeting them at least once a week. It’s also another excuse for Seongwoo to finally meet Jaehwan as he had been moaning about missing the singer (lies, he just wants to discuss their new mutual friend). As of right now, Seongwoo, Minhyun, the band members are all here, waiting for Jaehwan.

“But he was drunk?” Dongho asks, making sure of the facts given. Seongwoo nods and sighs. The vocalist laughs, “So it’s nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s nothing.” Sewoon retorts, drinking his wine. “Aren’t you more honest when you’re drunk? Maybe he’s always wanted to do that.”

Shaking his heads at these suggestions, Minhyun butts in, “Stop giving Seongwoo hope. He’s already imagining their wedding in Hawaii.”

Offended because Hawaii is reserved for the _honeymoon_ and not the _wedding_ , Seongwoo scoffs and sips his drink. He wonders if he should’ve told his friends about Daniel because they’re using it as a legitimate topic to have an argument about. Dongho seems to think that Daniel doesn’t sound serious because after a month and a half of texting, they still haven’t went out together. Seongwoo could only pout because the only times they’ve met are when he sends him food and also that drunk incident. Minki argues that it’s only been a month and a half - maybe they’re just slowly developing whatever this is and seeing where it takes them. Minhyun thinks Seongwoo is dumb and should be the one to make the first move, pointing out that it’s unlike him to be this nervous and insecure. Seongwoo retorts by describing how amazing Daniel is, in which Sewoon counters by recalling the impressive people Seongwoo dated in college who were probably more daunting than Daniel. Seongwoo shakes his head and says, “No, no one’s like Daniel.”

“Kids!” A loud and familiar voice greets them. The group winces at how loud Jaehwan is being despite being only a meter away. The vocal teacher approaches the table and greets everyone, a bright smile gracing his face as it usually is.

“Who is this brat calling his ‘kids’?” Dongho groans and squeezes Jaehwan’s shoulder. Jaehwan escapes his grip and sits next to Daniel and Minhyun. Sitting opposite him is Sewoon, smiling oddly because they’re still in that awkward post-break up phase where they attempt to be friends.

“Sorry I haven’t been seeing you guys a lot. Being a teacher is…harder than I anticipated.” Jaehwan apologizes, animatedly sighing. “That’s what I get for applying to teach there, I guess.”

Minhyun chuckles and takes his phone out, clicking on Jaehwan’s profile on the school website that Seongwoo and him were looking at a few months ago. Minhyun flashes it at the rest and says, “Yeah, we can tell by your mugshot that you’re tired.”

“That’s a horrible picture!” Jaehwan groans as he tries to grab the phone but fails due to Minhyun’s long limbs. Seongwoo smiles at them, his thoughts wandering far as he wonders when is the right time to bring up his topic. He shrugs and chooses to let the guys talk about whatever it is they have in mind, reliving their college days where they’d sit and talk till sunrise.

 

 

After too much of that expensive wine, the guys agree to take their little party to a bar where they can actually go rowdy with no old people to stare them down. Dongho is pouring a glass for Seongwoo after losing a bet when he suddenly asks, “Oh yeah, weren’t you going to ask Jaehwan about that guy?”

“What guy?” Jaehwan asks, curious at the mention of his name. 

“Daniel,” Seongwoo smiles at how good the name sounds when it rolls off his tongue, “Kang Daniel.”

“Oh, the dance teacher? I’ve met him quite a few times - he’s a great dude. How’d you know him?”

“We met when I sent Woojin to school. He’s Woojin’s homeroom teacher - talk about fate.”

“Woojin goes to school there now? How did I not know of this?”

“The point here is,” Seongwoo sighs as he pours himself another glass, “I think I’m in love with him.”

Fake belching, Minki drinks from the bottle itself and mutters, “I need to be drunk to listen to him talk about Daniel one more fucking time.”

Seongwoo goes on to explain about meeting him at the convenience store - which, to Dongho, is still not a viable explanation as to why he made them wait half an hour in the studio - and getting his number, which led to a month and a half of texting. 

Jaehwan almost chokes on his drink and exclaims, “He’s talked about you before!”

“What?!” Seongwoo closes his mouth with his hand to cover his big smile. “What did he say?”

“It’s just…he mentioned texting a cute guy and when we asked if he’s ever went on a date with the guy, he said it was complicated.”

Groaning, both Minhyun and Minki throw their hands up in unison. Minki asks, “Complicated? What’s so complicated about Seongwoo?”

“Clearly, a lot.” Minhyun says, gesturing to all of Seongwoo.

Seongwoo tells them to shut up and turns back to Jaehwan, urging for an explanation. Jaehwan shrugs, “He never explained how it was complicated, but seeing as how you’re basically Woojin’s dad right now, I can see why he’s finding it hard. Can you imagine your dad dating your teacher?”

“Oh shit, that’s right.” Seongwoo exaggeratedly pouts and drinks his soju dejectedly. “We agreed not to get Woojin involved in our friendship - so I guess advancing into a relationship would be trickier. Woojin already asks me who I’m giving our extra dinner to and I had to lie about knowing a priest downtown who appreciates it.”

“That’s kind of messed up.” Sewoon quietly mutters as he hides behind his drink.

Sighing loudly and staring into space, Jaehwan adds, “And the job offer is a shame too. I guess that makes it even more complicated.”

The group, after hours of endless chattering, suddenly becomes quiet. Jaehwan frowns at this, especially at the lost expression on Seongwoo’s face. Dongho senses the tension and goes ahead, “So…what are we talking about right now?”

“The job offer that Daniel got?” Jaehwan asks, checking to see a reaction from them, only to receive a .jpeg form of their confused face. He slowly adds, “...the offer to teach dance in Tokyo?”

Recalling that this wasn’t mentioned even once by Seongwoo despite it being an important fact, the rest of the table look away in unison. Seongwoo is left to stare at Jaehwan with a perplexed face. “Wait,” Seongwoo finally croaks, “when…was this offer? For how long? And how the fuck do I not know of this?”

Scoffing out of disbelief, Jaehwan answers, “I assumed you knew since this is a really big opportunity for him? He received it over 6 months ago and he has to confirm it soon. It’ll be for at least 3 to 5 years.”

Wincing at the blunt answer, the rest of the table are trying their best to stay detached from this, despite knowing how Seongwoo must be feeling right now. They want to butt in with their positive opinions about this, but they’re also eager to see how he reacts to this.

“Dongho…you’re right.” Before Dongho could take back all that he had said before about Daniel, Seongwoo adds, “He never took me as seriously as I took him. I just wasn’t…important enough.”

“Don’t say that!” The group exclaims towards him, clamoring and trying to make him feel better. Sewoon helpfully suggests, “M-maybe he’s just saving a heart break by not getting too close to you.”

Nodding, Minki agrees and says, “Yeah, because let’s be real - how could he not fall for the guy who gives him food and saves his drunk ass at 2 in the morning? Heck- how can he not fall for Ong Seongwoo?”

The table grows silent once more, each of them biting their lip to stop themselves from saying anything else. Seongwoo finally breaks the silence and snickers. He stands up and drops a couple of won bills on the table before saying, “I’ll, um, leave. Woojin’s home alone again and I need to make sure he doesn’t end up burning the house trying to make ramen.”

The group then watches as he walks away with his hands in his pockets, slouching. Jaehwan purses his lips. “I messed up, didn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i saw an abundant of these texting fics n thought i should try it lol but anyways sorry it turned angsty LOL pls enjoy it tho


	3. Complete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY
> 
> sorry for the delay I'm a crappy writer but y'all prolly figured it out already
> 
> hope you guys like it!

[](http://almost-almost-famous.tumblr.com/)“Let’s take a break!”

The class disperses to the corners of the room, each student trying to catch a breather. They’ve been practicing the same song for hours trying to make sure their school festival performance goes smoothly.

“You’re finally wearing socks.” 

Woojin looks up and sees Ahn Hyeongseob smiling at him. Woojin’s lips are almost trembling as it smiles back. He knows Hyeongseob from the first day of dancing class when Eunki-ssaem put on Pick Me as a warm up song and the boy danced the whole choreography on his own. Hyeongseob’s group of friends are very cute boys who look like the human personification of bunnies and they’ve got the best expressions during performances. But out of all the cute boys in the school (and there are more than enough of them), Woojin finds Hyeongseob the cutest of them all. It didn’t take long for Woojin to realize this. Hyeongseob isn’t as eye catching as Justin or as charismatic as Euiwoong, but his positivity and visuals are…astounding to say the least.

Woojin realizes he just spent a whole minute smiling at Hyeongseob so he quickly shakes his head. “Uh…yes. Socks. I was on strike when I stopped wearing them.”

“A strike? Are you calling for a ban against socks?” Hyeongseob jokes, sitting next to Woojin.

“Not really. I like my uncle’s socks but he wouldn’t let me wear them, so now he has no choice but to let me wear them.”

Hyeongseob lets out the biggest laughter, leaning in close to Woojin. He wipes an imaginary tear from his eye and says, “You’re so funny, Park Woojin.”

Smiling with his snaggletooth on display, Woojin enjoys seeing Hyeongseob laugh so hard because of him. He’s slowly starting to understand why Seongwoo likes to make people laugh so much.

“Park Woojin!” Another voice calls for him. Woojin looks up and sees his friend Park Jihoon walking towards him. Wondering if this is suddenly a congregation of extremely good looking people, Woojin gives way so Jihoon can sit next to him. Jihoon points at Hyeongseob and asks, “So you finally had the courage to talk to him?”

Looking away, Hyeongseob sighs and says, “Jihoon-ah, I hate you so much right now.”

Jihoon explains, “This guy has been building up the courage to talk to you since you first came. Should I say it’s pathetic or admirable?”

“Pathetic, definitely.” Hyeongseob answers with a self-deprecating smile.

Woojin finds himself smiling at this cute conversation and shyly adds his own answer, “I think it’s admirable.”

“Oh?” Jihoon pretends to be shocked and says, “A reversal, I see.”

“Why were you scared to approach me? You’re more popular.” Woojin asks Hyeongseob.

“I…think you’re the coolest guy ever since I first saw you.”

Recalling that day, Woojin could only remember Hyeongseob dancing to Pick Me alone. He remembers having to show a little freestyle to showcase his style, but he thinks it isn’t anything much. Before Woojin could ask what part of him was cool, Hyeongseob sighs loudly and looks somewhere else. Woojin and Jihoon turn to see what caught Hyeongseob's attention and are met with their teacher Daniel who’s standing against the wall alone and staring at his phone. The phone doesn’t even seem to be on, judging by how many times he puts it in his pocket only to take it out a minute later to check it. 

“Daniel-ssaem is doing it again.” Jihoon points out and shrugs.

“D-do what?” Woojin asks, feeling concerned towards his favorite teacher.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Hyeongseob asks. “He’s been really out of it lately. He’d stare out the window or check his phone a million times in a minute.”

Feeling like this is a familiar scene, Woojin frowns and says, “This is exactly how my uncle has been acting like recently, too.”

“Oh, your handsome uncle?” Hyeongseob asks.

“How’d you know my uncle?” Woojin asks, making Jihoon furrow his eyebrows in curiosity as well. He doesn't remember his uncle being anywhere near the school other than the first day. 

“I…saw him on your first day here? He’s tall and…just…handsome, right?” Hyeongseob recalls the encounter, finding it hard to describe the man. He shrinks under the eyes of his friend and adds, “I thought he was your brother, but I heard him saying he’s your uncle.”

“Yah, you were eavesdropping?” Jihoon nudges Hyeongseob with his feet playfully, acting angry.

“I’m the class president so I was there to meet Daniel-ssaem! I swear I didn’t mean to be eavesdropping!” Hyeongseob defends himself.

Laughing at how defensive he’s being, Woojin pats his shoulder softly. “It’s okay. And yeah, he’s young. He's a year older than Daniel-ssaem.”

“Maybe,” Jihoon suggests, “it’s a quarter life crisis thing.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“It could be.”

Before they could go further into this topic, Daniel himself announces that he’s continuing the practice. Woojin watches as Hyeongseob waddles towards his usual position while Jihoon checks himself on the mirror first. Daniel is in the middle of the room, looking down at his shoes solemnly, a vastly different persona from his usual, bright self. For a second, Woojin wonders - how could both Daniel and Seongwoo turn weirdly out of character at the same time? He also recalls back when Seongwoo would sometimes ask about Daniel, but that stopped suddenly because he said he was ‘texting someone’. Woojin stopped talking about Daniel too much, respecting that Seongwoo might be seeing someone else. But-

“Woojin-ah, are you joining us anytime soon?” Daniel asks, a soft smile on his face. 

The rest of the class are looking at him as well, making Woojin smile nervously. Woojin tells himself to think about this after school and says, “Sorry, I’m coming!”

 

xxxxx

 

“Surprisingly, you play better when you’re heartbroken rather than when you were infatuated.” 

Seongwoo looks up and sees Dongho smiling at him with a smug look on his face. He dramatically sighs before putting his drumsticks down and leans against the wall, closing his eyes. 

“So you’re done trying to make me feel better and moved on to making fun of me?” Seongwoo asks.

“I’m not good at consoling heartbroken people.” Dongho shrugs. “But to be fair, I tried. Really hard.”

Returning from a run to the convenience store, Minki dumps a bag of food and drinks on the table. Ever since the dinner with the tragic ending, the band has avoided letting Seongwoo go to the convenience store for them in fear of Daniel being there. Following behind Minki is Sewoon and another guest - Woojin. Seongwoo told him to come over after school since the boy had planned to stay back for a bit. He enters the studio shyly, the odd one out with his school uniform.

“I bumped into Woojinie on the way to the store.” Minki tells them. Woojin bows at everyone before sitting down by the side, looking around nervously. His eyes lands on his uncle, who’s zoning out again. Minki notices the drummer as well and sighs loudly. “Seongwoo-ya! It’s been a week - you’ve got to get over this.”

“I’m over it.” Seongwoo answers soullessly, his face indifferent. Woojin tries to camouflage himself with the studio walls, trying to listen to this conversation and hopefully find out why his uncle is like this.

“It only took me 3 days to get over Jaehwan.” Sewoon shrugs.

“You also wrote 5 songs about him in those 3 days.” Seongwoo points out. “And, like, 3 more angry ones after that.”

Tuning his bass by the side, Minki says, “I’m telling you, there must be a reason.”

“So, what,” Dongho turns to face the bassist, “you’re trying to say Seongwoo should meet him and demand an explanation?”

“A closure is a closure.” Minki shrugs.

“There must be other ways.” Sewoon mutters.

“Even if I want to, I don’t think I can just go and knock on Daniel’s door and ask for a reason behind this like booboo the fool.” Seongwoo sighs. “I’m barely anyone to him. It's stupid.”

It takes all of Woojin’s energy to not gasp at this, instead choosing to avert his gaze and pretend he’s scrolling through Twitter. He’s sweating in his uniform as he tries to piece this information together. 

_Seongwoo hyung and Daniel-ssaem. When? How? …what?_

 

xxxxx

 

“So basically, both Daniel-ssaem and my uncle are spacing out and looking sad for the same reason.” Woojin announces to his crowd of two - Hyeongseob and Jihoon. Woojin takes in a deep breath and continues, “I think my uncle has - well, _had_ \- something going on with Daniel-ssaem.”

“Something…?” Hyeongseob narrows his eyes. “...romantic?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure. I would ask Seongwoo hyung, but…” Woojin lets out a disappointed sigh. “He doesn’t seem approachable right now.”

“That leaves us with Daniel-ssaem, then.” Jihoon says as he does his homework, barely listening. “We'd have to ask him about this in order to solve whatever it is that’s happening.”

“No, no. That’s too rash.” Hyeongseob dismisses the suggestion. 

“Oh my god.” Woojin suddenly mutters, his mind recalling a certain hyung with a loud voice who he used to meet a lot back when Seongwoo was in college. “Jaehwan hyung.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow and asks, “You mean Jaehwan-ssaem? The new vocal teacher?”

“He’s my vocal teacher!” Hyeongseob exclaims, excited. Woojin smiles at this new revelation - and maybe also at how bright Hyeongseob looks right now - and quickly comes up with a plan.

 

 

 

New to the school, Jaehwan has already managed to make a lot of friends. Seeing as most of the other vocal teachers are quite old, the friends he has are his students. The boys admire his skills whereas the girls are always requesting songs for him to sing. He’s glad that he could keep the popularity he had back in college, when he could just open his mouth and everyone would come swooning over him. He had to figure out a way to score dates - his friends were Minhyun and Seongwoo, for god’s sake. Those two would simply _breathe_ and a flock of girls would come running towards them. Even after dating Sewoon, Jaehwan loved the attention he got and continued doing it. Sewoon didn’t mind as he performed as well, so the two went well together. It’s just too bad it couldn’t last.

After a tiring day of teaching, Jaehwan sits behind the piano in the training room as he bids his students goodbye. He wonders if they will go to college and do what he did. He misses those days. As he waves at them, he spots a familiar figure walking past the room - Daniel. Jaehwan gulps at the feeling of guilt stuck in his throat. He never intended to break Seongwoo’s heart and be the cause behind the mysterious disappearance of Daniel’s smile. Half of him still tells himself that the news would’ve reached Seongwoo anyway, but the other half of him says it would’ve been better if  _he_  hadn’t broken the news  _that_  way.

“Jaehwan hyung?”

Breaking away from his thoughts, Jaehwan scans the room to spot the small voice calling for him. By the door is Hyeongseob, one of his students, and Woojin - Seongwoo’s nephew. Jaehwan carefully answers, “…yes?”

Hyeongseob gently pushes Woojin in, the red-haired boy stumbling in. He rushes towards the front of the class and sits in one of the chairs in the first row. His voice low, Woojin asks, “Hyung, I have a very important question to ask.”

Sensing what this is about, Jaehwan throws his head back and prepares himself. “This is about your uncle, isn’t it?”

Woojin nods with an adamant look on his face. “I just need to know why he’s acting this way. Also…this has to do with Daniel-ssaem, right?”

Jaehwan stands and sits next to Woojin, making sure no other students are in the room. He knows about a dozen of his students who are smitten over Daniel and would throw a fit over him dating somebody. Once the coast is clear, Jaehwan starts, “So they’ve got a thing, you know? I never knew this - heck, I didn’t even know you go here until Seongwoo told me. But anyways, I met with Seongwoo the other day and he started talking about how he’s texting Daniel a lot and–”

“ _That’s_  who he’s been texting?!” Woojin asks, perplexed. He then realizes that he had cut Jaehwan off in the middle of his story and says, “S-sorry. Continue.”

“So…yes. I heard Daniel talking about texting someone as well - but he kept on saying it can never work between them. After finding out it was none other than our Ong, I got it. It’s probably because he’s taking care of you right now. That’s like having your dad date your–”

“Okay, I get it.” Woojin interrupts before Jaehwan could continue his gross sentence.

“Right. So then I pointed out that Daniel’s Tokyo job offer would come in the way as well - and that’s when it happened.”

“That’s when what happened? Also, what Tokyo job offer?”

Tired of everyone being oblivious about this, Jaehwan rolls his eyes. “Daniel received an offer to teach in Tokyo. It’s a big thing and all that but he’s still deciding. Only the teachers know about this, but I never expected him to keep it from Seongwoo if they were, you know, a real thing.”

Staring ahead into space, Woojin’s head is a mess of puzzle pieces finally coming together. After the meeting, he decides to ditch the bus and walk home, giving himself time and space to think. There are obvious things that he should have noticed earlier - like how Seongwoo is always cooking more than he should and leaving after dinner to give a ‘priest’ the extra food. Seongwoo does go to the church a lot, but Woojin highly doubts he’d go the extra mile to do all that. He recalls some days when Daniel would make small talks with some of his students about what he ate recently which would weirdly match what Woojin had eaten recently as well. Woojin frowns when he remembers how Daniel would smile brightly while speaking about the samgyetang he ate the night before, which Woojin had earlier dismissed because Daniel smiles at everything. _So many of mum’s tupperwares are missing…Seongwoo hyung is so in trouble._

When he sits at the dinner table and waits for Seongwoo to finish cooking the omurice, he watches as his uncle carefully puts it on a plate and serve it to Woojin. He doesn’t even make one for himself, telling Woojin that he ate a heavy lunch. Woojin appreciates the lone dinner time, because he’s busy texting Hyeongseob and Jihoon anyways, crafting a clever plan. 

 

 

 

 

“Woojin-ah, I’m hom– oh?”

Seongwoo pauses in the middle of taking his tie off when he sees Woojin and another boy in the kitchen, cooking. Unfamiliar with this scene, Seongwoo awkwardly heads towards them and offers a smile. 

“Ah, hyung! This is my friend from school, Hyeongseob.” Woojin introduces his friend who cutely bows at Seongwoo and spends a little too long staring at him. “He wanted to, uh…”

“Test a recipe!” Hyeongseob swoops in to save the day. “Woojin suggested I try cooking it for dinner.”

“So you don’t have to cook.” Woojin adds, smiling. 

Seongwoo chuckles at the floral aprons they’re wearing and nods. “Okay…but what if the recipe doesn’t turn out right?”

Hyeongseob gives an assuring wink and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, I’m a great cook.”

“Okay,” Seongwoo smiles at how bright this kid is, “I’m anticipating it.”

After showering and checking every few seconds to see if the kitchen is on fire yet, Seongwoo finally sits at the dinner table and waits for them to finish up. Hyeongseob is a peculiar guy, seeing as how he has his hair tied up like an apple and fumbling over whatever he does when Woojin comes anywhere near him. It’s also fun to see Woojin smile every time he turns away from Hyeongseob. Seongwoo rests his chin on the palm of his hand, watching them like he’s watching a teenage romance movie.

When the food is finally done, Seongwoo is met with a feast that could easily feed a family of 5. The two boys ate a lot because that’s what boys their age usually do, but even with their appetite the food goes unfinished. The food are all well cooked and taste better than Seongwoo would like to admit. After months of sharpening his cooking skills, he’s scared to admit that he might need to cook some more to match up to Hyeongseob’s level.

“Ah…all this leftover…” Hyeongseob sighs, putting the food in separate tupperwares. Seongwoo purses his lip at the familiar routine he used to have involving leftovers and tupperwares. 

Woojin helps Hyeongseob and upon seeing Seongwoo stand up, he quickly suggests, “Hyung! How about giving these to the, uh, priest?”

“The priest?” Seongwoo asks, confused. A moment of enlightenment dawns upon him when he remembers the lie he told his nephew and quickly adds, “Ah, the priest. He…moved.”

“Moved?”

“Yeah, he’s gone. That’s why I stopped cooking extra.” Seongwoo lies, staring at how Hyeongseob is properly packing the food. 

“I’m sure he’s still waiting for your food,” Woojin suggests, “no matter where he is.”

And then, Seongwoo realizes. He realizes that Woojin knows what’s going on and this whole dinner is just one huge plan to mend his uncle. Seongwoo thought he’s been doing well trying to mend himself, but it proves to be false when he finds himself considering this offer. Hyeongseob and Woojin are both sitting at the dinner table and staring at Seongwoo as they wait for an answer, holding each other’s hands under the table.

Wordlessly, Seongwoo grabs the tupperwares and heads towards the door, only to be stopped by Woojin who gives him a bag to put them in. Seongwoo has no idea why he’s in a hurry, but he exclaims as he clumsily puts his shoes on, “Take care of the house and don’t wait up!”

After his uncle vanishes, Woojin turns to his friend with the apple hair and asks, “Do you think it worked?”

“Well, he did run out of the house like he was chased by a dog.” Hyeongseob turns to smile at him. “You did it, Woojinie!”

Hyeongseob chirpily stands up and clears the table, humming away. Woojin would help, but he’s too busy sitting there and smiling to himself as he watches Hyeongseob work.  _Yeap, totally killed two birds with a stone. Thanks, Jihoon._

 

 

 

 

In a flash, Seongwoo’s out of the house and driving down the familiar route. It’s only when he’s parked outside of Daniel’s apartment that he realizes how fast his heart is beating and how red his face is. His thoughts are running fast - too fast for him to catch up.

_Wait, who am I to him? Why would he owe me an explanation? I’m just a dude he texts a lot. Fuck, am I being embarrassing right now? The stew honestly tasted a little flat. What if he likes Hyeongseob’s dishes better than mine?_  

Before he knows it, his heart took over and he’s already standing in front of Daniel’s door. He wants to leave so, so bad but his legs wouldn’t allow him to. He’s scared he’ll be glued here until tomorrow morning when Daniel leaves for work and finds him standing there, crying. His finger trembles as he presses the doorbell, his heartbeat leaping rather than running.

The sound of someone walking towards the door is heard, until the person accidentally kicks something and curses. The door then opens with a bent down Daniel checking his toe on the other side. As soon as he’s sure his toe isn’t bleeding, Daniel stands up straight with a smile that immediately falters at the sight of the person in front of his door. Stuttering, he doesn’t blink as he asks, “S-seongwoo? You’re…here?”

“Yeah…” Seongwoo doesn’t blink either, the both of them finding it hard to believe that they really are here. Staring at each other. Seongwoo shakily lifts his hand holding the bag and says, “Woojin and his friend cooked some food and I thought–”

Seongwoo’s words are cut off by Daniel who immediately leaps onto him with the biggest hug he can muster. Shocked at how high his heartbeat rate could reach, Seongwoo is frozen as he tells himself,  _this is the closest we’ve ever gotten._

_Well, if we act like the kiss didn’t happen._

“I’m so sorry for whatever I did that chased you away.” Daniel’s words are muffled by Seongwoo’s shirt as the blonde has his head buried in it. 

_You did nothing! It’s on me_ , is what Seongwoo wants to say. His mind instead forces him to say, “You never told me you were leaving.”

“Leaving?” The muffled voice asks.

“For Tokyo.” Seongwoo sighs and his arms moves to hug Daniel back, as if he’s scared the man would leave right now. “Jaehwan told me.”

Daniel buries his face further in Seongwoo’s neck, this position surprisingly natural to them - as if they should’ve been doing this since they met. The brief silence is broken when Daniel says, “I didn’t know how to break it to you. I had a decision made but then we started talking and…I was so conflicted.”

Seongwoo could feel Daniel clutching on his shirt and quite possibly crying on his shoulder. Daniel finally lifts his head up and Seongwoo finds himself slightly glad that the man isn’t crying, though his sad face is enough to break hearts. Sliding his hands down and holding Seongwoo’s, Daniel continues, “I never made an effort to go out with you because I was scared it’d affect my decision. I felt bad every time you came over to give me food and I wouldn’t even invite you in - but I had to.”

Seongwoo squeezes Daniel’s hands a little and looks him in the eyes, assuring him that it’s okay.  _Everything will be okay_. Daniel sees this and finally adds, “And that night when I stupidly decided to drink alone…it was after I handed my decision in to them.”

His hands going a little limp, Seongwoo looks over Daniel’s shoulder and looks into his house through the opened door. A few boxes are all over the place, all set out like someone is moving out. He purses his lips and nods. “So you chose to go.”

Surprised to see a single tear rolling down Seongwoo’s cheeks, Daniel wipes it with the sleeve of his shirt. He mutters, “It’s a huge offer…it’s–”

“Don’t explain,” Seongwoo stops him and wipes his tears himself. Upon seeing Daniel’s face drop, he holds the blonde’s hand tighter and smiles. “You don’t have to explain to me why you accepted an amazing offer that probably only comes once in a blue moon. I know how much dancing means to you, Niel-ah.”

Finally smiling, Daniel shyly asks, “I’ve only got a month left before I leave. Would you want to maybe spend time with this loser? Preferably not via text, that is.”

The disappointment he felt earlier is disappearing and replaced by a certain warmness instead, so Seongwoo confidently suggests, “Hell, let’s start right now. What do you want to do?”

“Well, I am still packing,” Daniel replies and turns to look at his messy living room. “Do you wanna help me pack?”

“That’s a horrible thing to ask. Why would you make me do that?” Seongwoo gasps, earning a laughter from Daniel. He dramatically sighs and says, “But fine. Whatever. I’ll pretend like it isn’t the most painful thing to be doing right now.”

Laughing together, Daniel pulls Seongwoo in and closes the door behind them. As they pack, Seongwoo does ask about the kiss, in which Daniel winces when he fails to recall it. This offers Seongwoo the chance to say,  _I guess you’ll have to make up for it_ , followed by a proper, sober kiss. It’s a slow and languid kiss, their lips moving harmonically with each other just as their hands reach up to hold the other tightly. The plan to pack then turns south when Seongwoo smirks as his hands slides down to parts he shouldn’t be touching. Daniel is fast to forget packing and suggests they move to his room, but Seongwoo is already taking Daniel’s shirt off and shaking his head.  _Here’s fine_ , Seongwoo says. 

Seongwoo ends up almost missing work because he returned home at ass o’clock. It took him all his willpower to not leave the pouting Daniel behind, but he has a kid (maybe two?) to take care of at home. When he arrived home and tip-toed to his room, he smiled at the sight of Woojin and Hyeongseob sleeping on the couch. He grabbed a blanket and covered them before finally going to sleep. 

Minhyun the angel covered for his tardiness and demands an explanation, in which Seongwoo happily breaks the news to him as they take a piss next to each other in the bathroom. Minhyun almost misses his aim upon learning the good news, amazingly happy for his friend. 

“But…what about after he leaves?” Minhyun couldn’t help but ask.

Seongwoo shrugs. “We’ll figure something.”

 

 

 

At the airport a month later, it takes both Dongho and Minhyun to pull Seongwoo away from Daniel so the teacher could move to his gate. Seongwoo tries his best not to cry but he’s an emotional guy, so he smiles even with the never-ending tears that stream down his cheeks. On the drive back home, Seongwoo watches the planes fly above him and wonders which one has Daniel in it.

The band’s debut EP finally takes off after Seongwoo managed to settle his feelings down. They manage to garner favorable attention from every corner, even getting love calls from entertainment companies. Seongwoo lets the other members make the decisions as he is too busy mailing a copy of the album to Daniel, asking him everyday if it has arrived. He even uses his part of the profit from the albums to buy a plane ticket to Tokyo, surprising the teacher - who is now a brunette - at his dance studio.

“You know what I found out?” Seongwoo asks Daniel as they lie on Daniel’s bed, lazily playing with his fingers. "If it’s real, distance would only make it stronger.”

“What’s…’it’?” Daniel asks, genuinely confused.

Seongwoo chuckles at him and gives a peck on his lips before saying, “Love, you idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jinseob r so cute!!! i love them  
> i wanted to add minhwan but it seems too much for this /short/ fic sooooo maybe in my next one? hehe

**Author's Note:**

> the 'arras-ong' thing is a cute way of saying 'arraso' which means 'okay' in korean lol geddit? cos ong
> 
> hmu on twitter @ defseongwoo


End file.
